New Orleans Fun and Frolic Update

Dealership still missing cars, wants U.S. attorney to investigate:

The Cadillac dealership that was allegedly cleaned out by police during Hurricane Katrina is still missing over 100 vehicles, and the general manager wants the U.S. attorney to investigate.

"It needs to be handled by the Justice Department," Doug Stead said Tuesday. "... I think right now we've got cops looking for cops."

I can see why that would be a problem.

Police have acknowledged some cars were taken. It was not considered looting because the officers patrolled in the cars, Capt. Marlon Defillo said. Police are cooperating with the investigation, he said.

"Our cars were flooded," Defillo said. "If it had been Pintos, nobody would have said anything. It got attention because it was Cadillacs."

"They didn't take the little Chevrolets, though, did they?" Stead responded. "They took the Cadillacs, and there were plenty of Impalas here."

Hey, they needed big cars to haul the loot from Wal-Mart!

The cars taken from the dealership included 88 new Cadillacs and Chevrolets, 40 used cars, 52 customers' cars and a restored 1970 El Camino and 1966 Impala. Still missing are 50 customers' cars, 40 used cars and 17 new cars, Stead said.
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Two new Corvettes were left in the street, apparently stalled out by the floodwaters and abandoned.

The dealership recovered a parts truck on Monday. A former employee noticed it parked in Houston and called Stead.

I wonder which poor rookie got stuck with the parts truck?

Meanwhile there's lots of angst about reconstruction - A mixed blessing for immigrants:

Welcome to the Gulf Coast post-Katrina, the nation's latest immigration magnet.

Lured here by the promise of fat paychecks and an emergency federal decree temporarily suspending immigration-enforcement sanctions, immigrants sleep in tents, crowded hotel rooms and parking lots. They haul trash and cut trees, fasten tarps to damaged roofs and tear out wet Sheetrock from thousands of soaked buildings.

It started out as a trickle. But over time, the post-Katrina job market has drawn large numbers of immigrants -- some legal, some not -- to New Orleans and other coastal communities from Florida, Texas, California, North Carolina and other immigrant-rich states.
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At a recent seminar about the rebuilding efforts, New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin asked the crowd, "How do I ensure that New Orleans is not overrun by Mexican workers?"
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Employers have little to fear in hiring illegal workers. Even before Katrina hit, work-site immigration enforcement was lax.

I'm sure shocked at that news!

But the politicos have their eye on the important employees - City may hire extra workers for absentee ballots:

If tens of thousands of voters who evacuated New Orleans for Hurricane Katrina are still away from their homes early next year, the city may have to hire extra workers to deal with absentee ballot applications for Feb. 4 elections, officials said Thursday.

Secretary of State Al Ater said almost 300,000 registered New Orleans voters left the city after Hurricane Katrina.

"We don't have enough personnel now," he said. "We have employees scattered in Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas and Mississippi."

The comments came as a task force assembled by Ater started looking at possible ways to reach New Orleans voters who have been displaced and want to cast ballots in the February municipal primary.
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Ater has indicated he would like to cross-check his list of registered voters with lists from FEMA or the American Red Cross to get current addresses of voters and inform them of their rights.

But Sen. Chris Ullo, D-Marrero, warned that if some groups or individuals get letters and others do not, Ater could be held liable and the election results could be challenged in court and voided.

Ater said his plan is to run newspaper, radio and television ads in the markets where New Orleans voters are, outlining how to obtain absentee ballots and telling them that they would forfeit their right to vote if they reregister in another parish or state.

Hasn't stopped them before, why should it now? I wonder how long this "absentee voter" schtick can last? It could be like the "Palestinians" who have been absent from Palestine for generations.

On the other hand, it may also be kinda tough getting the attention of the displaced locals until the loot runs out - Evacuees binge on Cape Cod: Spend FEMA cash on booze, strippers.